Opinion PMO overhaul
But the official notification announcing Chatterjees appointment simply states that he will be working in the PMO without mentioning his designation.
PMO overhaul
Sonia Gandhis trusted bureaucrat,Pulok Chatterjee,was personally told by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that he wanted him back in the PMO as principal secretary even though Chatterjees three year term with the World Bank ends only in February next year. But the official notification announcing Chatterjees appointment simply states that he will be working in the PMO without mentioning his designation. This has led many to assume that Chatterjee will be replacing M N Prasad,the secretary-level officer in the PMO and not principal secretary T K A Nair. In fact,over half-a-dozen officers are leaving the PMO. Joint secretary Vini Mahajan and director D P S Sandhu are being sent on deputation to Washington. Prasad,additional secretary R Gopalakrishnan,joint secretary Pankaj Saran,directors Ashish Gupta and Sudhakar Dalela are also reportedly leaving the PMO,indicating that the PMO is headed for a bigger overhaul than the Cabinet.
Unsporting chance
Sports Minister Ajay Maken is drafting a Bill seeking to introduce various conditions for heads of sports associations so that no single individual can monopolise the post of president for too long. Maken may not have an easy time when the draft Bill comes before the Cabinet. Five Cabinet Ministers are deeply entrenched in various sports bodies. Though he has stepped down as president of the BCCI,Sharad Pawar is president of the ICC and continues to be de facto boss of the BCCI. Vilas Rao Deshmukh was recently elected president of the Mumbai Cricket Association,C P Joshi is president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association and Farooq Abdullah heads the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association. Praful Patel is president of the All India Football Federation.
Change of heart
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had promised interviews to two leading Indian TV channels during her recent visit to the country. But the interviews were called off at the last moment. In fact,one prominent TV anchor was already on the flight to Chennai by the time she learnt of the cancellation. The official reason for scuttling interviews was that Clinton was tired. Considering that the US Secretary of State spoke frequently to the media on a one-on-one basis in both Turkey and Greece and that she did not cut back on any of her official engagements in India,the excuse sounded a little lame. Perhaps she didnt want to answer any embarrassing questions on Ghulam Nabi Fai. After all,Fai was in the habit of brandishing a letter of recommendation from Bill Clinton. News that Fais activities were funded by ISI may have been publicly revealed only recently,but it appears that the US government had known all along of the link but chose to act now. In fact,during former PM Vajpayees visit to the US,the American government had set up a meeting between the Indian journalists delegation and Fai. He was allowed to use the Senate and Congress buildings for hosting some of his conferences on Kashmir.
No transparency
Congress leaders talk about the use of IT and modern-day work culture,but when it comes to running the party headquarters at 24,Akbar Road,everything is done the good old fashioned way. Rather than the use of Internet for sending messages to the staff,memos are dispatched through peons. This is done partly because the older generation of Congresspersons is not computer savvy but more so to ensure confidentiality of all information. There is complete lack of transparency in terms of salary structure and funds within the AICC,journalist Rasheed Kidwai writes in his just released book 24 Akbar Road. Most employees are paid according to the whim of the party treasurer,Motilal Vohra. Work benefits such as PF,gratuity and health insurance are denied to them. Another curious aspect of the office,Kidwai notes,is that while each of the 11 general secretaries has an attached toilet in their office rooms,there are only two toilets for some 100-odd ordinary office bearers.
Bugged by investigation
The 150th anniversary of the Income Tax department was celebrated on June 30 this year with much fanfare. All previous heads of the Central Board of Direct Taxes were invited to the ceremony. A notable absentee was the recently retired CBDT chief Sudhir Chandra,who was,in fact responsible for much of the advance planning for the event. Speculation was rife he stayed away because he was the man behind the controversial decision to hire a private investigative agency to find out whether adhesive on the walls and tables of the finance ministry offices was part of a bugging operation.
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